Decision on Police cuts to be deferred after budget announcement

Essex Police has decided to defer until early in 2016 final decisions on proposals to reduce the number of Police Community Support Officers in the force.

The decision has been taken following the police funding announcements made by the Chancellor in his autumn statement and in view of the impending government announcement scheduled for December 18, of revised funding settlements for individual forces.

The combination of these announcements are likely to mean the force still needs to find significant savings in the years to come.

Essex Police entered into formal consultation in October on proposals to reduce numbers of PCSOs employed by the force to 60 by April 2016.

The proposals will now be deferred until January 2016 to allow for careful consideration and analysis of all relevant information.

Affected employees were informed of the deferment by letter and following consultation with Unison.